Flag adopted 4 April 1881, coat of arms adopted 15 March 1858Proportion: 4:5 or 2:3Description: Horizontally divided red-whiteUse: on land, as the national and civil flag; at sea,
as the national and civil ensign

Presentation of the Principality of
Monaco

The Principality of Monaco is the second smallest sovereign state in the
world (the smallest being the Holy See), with an
area of 151 hectares, and the most crowded one.

The early history of Monaco is linked to the Genoese civil wars
between the Guelphs (supporting the Pope) and the Ghibellines
(supporting the German Emperor). In 1297, the Guelph Rainier Grimaldi
captured Monaco's rock from the Ghibellines and founded a dynasty,
even if he was not able to keep Monaco for a long time.
In 1342, Charles Grimaldi, from the same family, proclaimed himself
Lord of Monaco, and bought in 1346 the seigniories of Roquebrune and Menton.
In the 16th century, Monaco became the first historical example of a
protectorate. During the Spanish protectorate (1525-1641), the Lords
of Monaco upgraded their title to Prince. In 1641, by the Treaty of
Péronne, Monaco was transfered under French protectorate.
In 1793, the Principality was annexed by the French Republic.
In 1814, after the fall of Napoléon I, the Grimaldi were
restored and the Principality was put under Sardinian protectorate by
the second Treaty of Paris. The economical and political situation
was very bad and led to the proclamation of the
Free Towns of Roquebrune and Menton
in 1848, which were incorporated to France in 1860, with the
County of Nice. Count Cavour took the
opportunity of these events to drop the Sardinian protectorate over
Monaco.

The real birth of Monaco started in 1863 with the creation of
gambling, which was forbidden in the neighbouring countries. The
suppression of most taxes in 1869 and the achievement of the railway
line between Nice and Monaco in 1868 were also important events. All of them were promoted by Prince Charles III, who is also to be credited of the adoption of the current national flag.
The small town of Spéluges became Monte-Carlo in 1866, and the
casino was added a theater in 1879, designed by Garnier on the model
of the Paris opera. From 1949 onwards, the late Prince
Rainier III favoured business with the help of
very advantageous fiscal laws.

The current Constitution was enacted on 17 December 1962. The Prince shall hold the executive and judicial powers, and a part of the legislative power. The State Minister, equivalent of a Prime
Minister, shall be appointed by the Prince among proposals made by the
French government. Ordinary governmental councilllors shall be chosen by
the Prince. The National Council (18 members elected by universal
suffrage for 5 years) can only propose laws and vote those proposed
by the Government. Only the Prince can dissolve the National Council.
Justice shall be rendered by courts on behalf of the Prince.

Monaco, although sovereign and independent, has signed "particular
conventions with France". French is the national language and the
Monegasque Franc had the same value as the French Franc until
adoption of Euro on 1 January 2002. There has been a
French-Monegasque customs union since 1865. According to a treaty
signed in Paris on 17 July 1918 and officialized on 28 June 1919,
Monaco shall "exert its sovereignty rights in perfect agreement with
the political, military, naval and economic interests of France".
There was a severe French-Monegasque crisis in 1962 for political and
economical reasons. After 11 months of difficult discussions, a new
fiscal status was adopted for Monaco.

Monaco is still a fiscal paradise: the Monegasque citizens and the
non-French foreign inhabitants of Monaco do not pay any income tax.
To have the same status, French citizens need to have settled in
Monaco at least five years before the 13 October 1962. Companies
realizing more than 75% of their benefit in Monaco also do not pay
any corporation tax. Local taxes are also inexistant. Therefore
Monaco has attracted several members of the jet-set, show-biz,
professional sport etc... Among the born Monegasque citizens is to
be mentioned the poet and singer Leo Ferré (1916-1993).

Source:Guide Gallimard Alpes-Maritimes

Ivan Sache, 14 February 2000

Flags prescribed in the Constitution of Monaco

The Princely and National flags of Monaco are prescribed in the Constitution of the Principality of Monaco (text), adopted on 17 December 1962 and amended by Law No. 1,249 of 2 April 2002, as follows:

Title I.
The Principality - The authorities
[...]Article 7.
The Princely flag shall be made of the arms of the House of Grimaldi
on a white background.
The National flag shall be made of two equal horizontal stripes, of
colours red and white, red in the upper part white in the lower part.
The use of these flags shall remain regulated by the prescriptions of
the Sovereign Decree of 4 April 1881.

Ivan Sache, 20 June 2008

National flag of Monaco

According to both Smith (The Flag Bulletin[tfb], No. 215) and notes by William Crampton, the bi-colour of Monaco is now almost invariably (but unofficially) displayed in proportions of 2:3, as opposed to 4:5 as shown in the Annex to the Decree (of Prince Charles III) dated 4 April 1881 which formally established it.
In the Annex mentioned above both flags (the government and national flags) are shown flying from striped (in a spiral) flagpoles, and there is a photograph (dating from the 1950s) in The Flag Bulletin 215 which shows the same thing, however, I have no idea how common the practice is today.

Christopher Southworth, 7 April 2005

The protocol manual for the London 2012 Olympics (Flags and Anthems Manual London 2012 [loc12]) provides recommendations for national flag designs. Each NOC was sent an image of the flag, including the PMS shades, for their approval by LOCOG. Once this was obtained, LOCOG produced a 60 x 90 cm version of the flag for further approval. So, while these specs may not be the official, government, version of each flag, they are certainly what the NOC believed the flag to be.
For Monaco, PMS 186 red. The vertical flag is simply the horizontal version turned 90 degrees anti-clockwise.

Ian Sumner, 10 October 2012

Princely standard and government flag

Use of the flag

The white flag with the national coat of arms is consistently identified as:
- the princely standard and government flag (Pedersen, 1971
[ped71]);
- the Prince's standard, flown from his yacht and at the palace
(Barraclough & Crampton, 1978
[c2b78]);
- the Prince's standard and flag for state officials (Crampton,
1990 [cra90]);
- the state flag (Dorling-Kindersley pocket book, op. cit.; Znamierowski, 1999 [zna99])
Smith (1980 [smi80]) identifies
this flag as the state flag and ensign, war flag and ensign
(indicated in his 6-point grid).

On the website of the
Monegasque government (page no longer online), this flag is shown flying at the seats of the Conseil de la Couronne (which seems to be a wing of the palace) and the Conseil du Gouvernement (which is clearly a separate building), while the red-white bicolour is shown flying at the seat of the Conseil National.
It should be noted that the Monegasque government (that is the
executive) is responsible to the Prince, not to the Conseil
National (the elected legislature). The latter institution, like
the rest of the population, uses the red-white bicolour flag and for
this reason I feel that the term "government flag" is more
appropriate than "state flag" when referring to the arms-on-white
flag. Znamierowski [zna99] also
makes the relevant point that the red-white bicolour flag is used by
Monegasque missions abroad.

Vincent Morley, 1 May 2002

On 21 March 2010, the flag could be seen hoisted:
- on the police booths at the road entrances of the Principality and
on the foot of the stairs linking the port to the rock (upper town);
- on the visitors' center, located near the casino;
- on the headquarters of the Automobile-Club de Monaco (ACM), located
on Port Hercule. Founded on 26 August 1890 as the Sport Vélocipédique Monégasque, renamed on 28 August 1907 Sport Automobile et Vélocipédique de Monaco and eventually renamed on 29 March 1925 Automobile Club de Monaco, the ACM is the organizer of the Monte-Carlo Rally (since 1911) and of the F1 Monaco Grand Prix (since 1929).

Ivan Sache, 9 May 2010

Details of the flag

The height of the arms is almost exactly 3/4th
that of the flag. Flaggenbuch[neu92], however, shows the Arms
occupying 17/20th the height of the flag (proportion 2:3), and
describes the flag as Fürstliche Flagge, gleichzeitig Standarte des
Fürsten und Dienstflagge, darf an Land auch von Privaten
geführt werden (Princely flag, at the same time standard of the
Prince and state ensign, private individuals are also allowed to fly
it on land).
A large, recent picture of a Monegasque Carabinier about
to hoist the State Flag above Saint Mary's tower in Monaco Castle was published in Paisajes, a complimentary magazine
handed out to passengers in the Madrid-Seville high speed train, page
52, November or December 1999 issue. The picture is so large that
even the folds in the flag are apparent, and measuring the flag
height and comparing it that of the arms is straightforward.
The arms are 11/20ths (0.55) as high as the flag, which does not fit
the images in either Smith [smi75c]
or Flaggenbuch[neu92].
The motto (Deo Juvante) is shown in red letters, not gold ones
as in some renderings.

Santiago Dotor, 16 February 2000

My copy of an official model of the flag shows a ratio of 16:21 which I assumed was an artistic error and should have been 3:4 (hardly unusual in the flag world), however, some time ago I studied a copy of (what I believe to be) the annex mentioned in Article 3 of a Decree of Prince Charles III dated 4 April 1881 (that formally established both this and the National Flag).
This shows arms of a different pattern than those in present use (the monks are, for example, clean-shaven and tonsured), but the flag is apparently designed so that the arms are two-thirds of flag length across (70/105) by three-quarters of flag width high (60/80). If expressed in units this makes the hoist 4-24-4 and the length 7-28-7 = 32 x 42 (or 16:21).
In conversation with William Crampton on this matter he told me that, whatever the regulation proportions, most Monegasque flags are made in 2:3.

The monks supporting the shield in the coat of arms allude to the conquest of Monaco in 1297, when a Grimaldi entered the city, with soldiers dressed as monks, with swords hidden under their cassocks (therefore the monks bear swords on the arms).
The Order of Saint-Charles was founded by Prince Charles III in 1858.
The Order has five classes and the Grand Master of the Order is the
Prince of Monaco, who is given the Collar of the order on the day of
his enthronment.
The motto "Deo Juvante" dates back to Lambert Grimaldi d'Antibes (1420-1494), who married her cousine Claudine Grimaldi (1451-1515) in 1465 and secured the Grimaldi rule over Monaco, helped by his brothers from Antibes.

Ivan Sache, 20 June 2008

Prince's personal standard

Prince Albert II's flag

Prince Albert's flag - Image by Graham Bartram, 20 August 2008

The standard of Albert II is made of silk, white with a golden fringe (not represented on the above image), and has the new cypher (2 "A" in red surmounted by a crown on one side, and the coat of arms of Monaco on the other side. During the enthronement ceremony (19 November 2005), the standard was given to Albert II, who transferred it to the Chief of the Palace Guard.

Olivier Touzeau, 20 November 2005

Prince Rainier III's flag

Prince Rainier's flag - Image by Santiago Dotor, 14 February 2000

Smith (op. cit.) shows the
"Princely Flag" with unofficial proportions 5:6, and says about it:
"The cypher of Prince Rainier figures on his personal
flag".
The flag is shown as being 5:6, including the fringe - without it it
would be quite exactly 3:4. The fringe appears to be one ninth of the
height of the white field.
Barraclough and Crampton (op. cit.)
identify this flag as the car flag of Prince Rainier III.